


Robyn Hood Of Sherwood

by Starwannawrite



Category: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Beyblade
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Historical, Gen, Historical Fantasy, Humour, Mystery, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25032292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starwannawrite/pseuds/Starwannawrite
Summary: Who knew that opening a book can be so disastrous?It all started out as a normal practice session. But soon, stuff happens and the Bladebreakers find themselves in 13th Century England without any decent warning. Things go downhill from there and they subsequently come face-to-face with the infamous outlaw - Robyn Hood - and his merry men. Or rather, her. Now, our Bladebreakers must race against time if they want to go back to their own world. Reality isn't as it looks like at the first glance and inevitably, chaos ensues in the Sherwood Forest. Complicated mindsets, silent conspiracies and the daily thrill of being a wanted outlaw soon take them to the adventure of a lifetime."WHY DOESN'T TIME TRAVEL COME WITH A USER'S MANUAL?" (Guess who said that.)





	1. The Practice that didn't go as planned...

"Let it rip!"

"Launch from a greater angle Max."

"Sure Cappy!" Max waved cheerfully at their stolid team captain. Kai snorted in reply.

"Sourpuss." Tyson muttered to himself as he prepared to launch Dragoon into the other Beydish, earning a glare from Kai.

Kai leant against the wall of the training room, silently watching the progress made by each of his team mates. They had a beyblade tournament next week. Though it wasn't as big as the World Championships, Mr. D still wanted them to give their maximum effort and train hard for it. However, it was a pain to make his team mates take it seriously, not that Kai wanted to try.

Kai grimaced as he looked at Tyson, lying sprawled on the floor and continuously complaining about practice. He looked out of the window. They were in a new training center, deep inside a forest. For some reason, Mr. D believed that close proximity to nature helped one practice better. Not that Kai was against the idea. Personally, he liked the feeling of solitude and calmness prevailing in the forests.

Kai looked back towards his team mates. Rei was the only one practicing now. Max was loudly complaining of poor network and pointing towards his smartphone, while Tyson was looking through every box and container in the room in hopes of... a late afternoon snack, probably. Daichi had gone back to his hometown for the summer break. Hilary and Kenny were supposed to drop by after a few hours to show them the new attack ring upgrades Kenny was working on. Everything was... just the way it was supposed to be. Perfectly in routine. Kai looked out of the window again. The forest seemed to beckon him. Surely, roaming about outside for a little bit of time would not hurt...

Kai had just entered a few steps into the forest when he felt a light tap on his right shoulder. Spinning around, he was mildly surprised to see Rei grin at him.

"Uh, Kai... going somewhere? "

"Hn." Kai nodded towards the forest.

"Mind if I tag along? "

Kai shrugged noncommitedly, then turned around and started walking through the forest. Truth be told, he was much more comfortable around Rei than the others. He considered all of them as his friends (he's never going to confess it though) but Rei was the most mature amongst his team mates and talked less than the others. Also, he was almost of the same age as he was.

Rei walked alongside Kai, his amber eyes constantly trained on their team captain, although they talked very little with each other. The battle with Brooklyn had taken a geat deal out of his best friend, and he was still injured (though he refused to admit it). Rei was worried about his friend going all alone into a dense forest, so he decided to come along.

Their respective lines of thought were suddenly broken when a bush rustled, to the right. A magnificent deer strolled out of the bush and without any warning, galloped away-startled by human presence. Kai furrowed his eyebrows. He had never expected a forest so close to human civilization to have deer roaming in it...

The bush rustled again. Both Kai and Rei tensed and readied themselves to tackle whatever creature that came out of those bushes.

"Max, give me back my energy bar!"

Kai wrinkled his nose in disgust as Max burst out, followed by a red-faced Tyson. "Tyson! Why are you screaming like that?" Rei scolded Tyson. The navy-haired teen pouted and pointed towards Max, "Rei, please tell him just how much important that energy bar is for a growing boy like me!"

Kai rolled his eyes at Tyson's words. Max laughed and took a bite out of the energy bar. Tyson looked as if Max had taken a bite out of his leg. He almost howled in pain and chased after Max. Max started running and simultaneously cramming the entire snack into his mouth, unheedful of the other's shrill protests. Rei quietly covered his ears.

Kai could take it no more. "What are you two doing here?" He glared at them. Max rubbed the back of his head, "Well, you see Kai, I... suddenly had this great idea that maybe signal's poor in the training centre, so I," He gave a silly grin and and waved his smartphone over his head like a banner, "came out in the open to see if I can get a better... signal?" Rei looked at him in sheer disbelief. This was the first time he had ever seen anyone search for a mobile signal by roaming deep into the forest. Kai, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes. Why did he get this distinct impression that Max was hiding something?

Tyson had turned a little green on seeing the whole snack disappear into Max's mouth. He sat down in the grass.

"I was peacefully looking for a snack and had just discovered that tasty-looking energy bar when Max stole it and disappeared into this forest. Of course I came after it. But now, you," He jumped up and pointed towards Max's stuffed mouth, "give me my energy bar back NOW!"

"Um, Tyson, I don't think that's possible..." Rei tried to make him see reason, while Max almost choked with laughter. Kai stared at his team mates in dismay. They really were hellbent on not letting him feel peaceful, weren't they?

Noting the somewhat placid expression on Kai's face, Max finally swallowed and clapped his hands together, "Ok folks! Now here's the real deal! Gather in." He took out an ancient-looking paper from his pocket, parchment to be more precise, and unfolded it, immediately piquing Kai's interest. So this was what Max had really come into the forest for, Kai realized. He had made a lame excuse before because Kai was fairly pissed-off then. "Where did you find this?" Kai couldn't hide his growing curiosity. "It was in one of the boxes lying outside in the training centre's backyard. You know what? I think it's a treasure map." Max's eyes twinkled in anticipation. He held out the yellow, crinkled piece of paper towards Kai to reveal several hand-drawn details, those of a forest, not unlike the one they were in. Rei's eyes were wide. Kai wanted to feign indifference, but his love for historical artifacts and antique items overpowered the urge. He took the map from Max's hands.

"A map of a forest."

"I think that it's of this forest." Max looked barely unable to contain his excitement.

"Hn... "

"Oh really? Then where's the cross?" Tyson joined them. Kai eyed him oddly.

"You know, the cross-thingy," Tyson to explain, "the one which shows where the treasure is... where's that? This is a treasure map, right?"

"Not every map has a cross on it." Kai retorted. Rei took one look at the map and knitted his brows, "Max... how do you know that this is a treasure map?"

It was a good question. The map did look real old, but there were no special markings on it whatsoever. Before Max could answer, Kai spoke up. "Because of this. " He pointed towards the bottom left part of the parchment. If one looked closely enough, one could see writings in ink faded with time. Yet, the discernible part went something like this:

_"A tale awaits for you, young knights_

_A ballad of valour and true heart,_

_If you but dare, a legend awaits_

_The path lies open, walk your part._

_Time might fly, time might tarry_

_But only water shall put out a fire,_

_Follow the path etched true above_

_To reach your heart's true desire."_

Just as Kai finished reading aloud the verses, Max started jumping up and down, "You got it! 'Heart's true desire', see? Everyone knows that it's treasure." Rei looked more or less convinced. Kai, however, had serious doubts. He glanced through the writing once more, noting the style. The handwriting style was like that of the early medieval period-strict, identical alphabets, elaborate cursive letters and little space in between. Something at the very bottom of the parchment caught his eye. In very faded ink, two letters were barely visible. It looked like an R and an H.

R.H.-must be the initials of the author, Kai reasoned, the person who must have made the map and written those verses. Kai looked up, the verses clear in his mind. Max was jumping about, probably perked up due to the promise of treasure. Rei was looking forward to the adventure it guaranteed. Kai himself was more interested to know more about the legends and tales and ballads mentioned in the verses. He realized that all of them were reacting differently to the _heart's own desire_ part in an individually unique manner.

As for Tyson... Kai looked in his direction and nearly started on seeing the wild gleam in Tyson's eyes. He looked as if some cluelessly unfortunate restaurant had awarded him a lifetime access to free food. Suddenly, he came to life and snatched the map straight out of Kai's hands.


	2. What Happens When You Do Things Without A Sane Plan? This...

Even Rei and Max were startled by this outrageous behavior. Kai glared at Tyson but to no avail.

Tyson started walking in one direction, "Heart's true desire... don't you guys see it? " Kai frowned. Apart from the frankly frightening fact that Tyson can actually work out the meaning of that phrase on his own, had he missed something important, yet obvious enough to be grasped by Tyson?

Tyson turned back and waved his hands, "It's FOOD!" Right. The guy was mentally tuned to another level of comprehension. "They must have lots and lots of delicious food there. Oh boy, there might be an all-you-can-eat buffet going on! " All the other bladers sweatdropped in unison.

"Come on guys, or there might be nothing left for us! "

"Tyson wait! "

Tyson took off into the forest, Rei and Max at his heels.

Ya, a map made hundreds of years ago will show where a free feast is going on. What a joke. Kai grimaced at the antics of his team mate and started to swiftly follow them.

After going deeper into the forest, Kai could hear loud voices. It sounded like they were arguing. Kai followed the voices' direction and burst into an open area. He quietly took in the scene.

Max and Rei were glaring at Tyson, while he was trying to glare back with equal force (and failing miserably).

"What's the matter NOW ? " Kai intervened.

"Tyson had the map and he was following it. So naturally, we were following HIM. But he," Max jabbed his finger at Tyson, "got lost himself and misled us as well."

"He had been holding the map upside down." Rei added. Kai sighed in frustration.

"Explain why you took the map, even though you certainly don't have the skills needed to read it."

Tyson pouted," How am I supposed to know that it's not magical? " everyone looked at him, confused. Tyson went on, "You know - when treasure's nearby the map starts to sorta glow and then flies out of hand and into the air, then a sacrifice's needed and someone gets possessed and starts to tear up the poor guy standing next to him into pieces. Then the map reveals the location... "

"That's enough, Tyson." Max interrupted nervously, noticing that Kai was slowly losing his temper. Rei pulled the map out of Tyson's grasp and passed it to Kai. Tyson tried to protest but Rei's hand clapped over his mouth.

"I can assure you, Tyson, that none of us are in any manner interested to know about those horror movies you have been watching too much lately." Kai remarked, eyeing the navy-haired boy squirming in Rei's firm hold. He turned his attention towards the map.

"Hm, Tyson was talented enough to completely screw up our location."

"Can we still make it? " Rei asked, worry etched on his face. Max grinned beseechingly (only Max can do that) and Tyson... well, he was still trying to glare at everyone.

"Maybe we can. " Kai mused, eyes trained on his fellow team mates.

* * *

"Have we reached?"

"Hn."

"Hey guys, we have arrived at our destination! " Rei called back to the boys lagging behind, "Hurry UP! "

"How can you expect us to hurry ?" Tyson shouted back. He made a tired face, "We have been walking for sooo long, I might as well collapse... "

"For one, Tyson, you are not walking, " Max pointed at the restraining hold the dragoon-wielder had around his neck, "I am carrying you, or rather, dragging you along. Two, we haven't walked for that long. This was fairly quick. Kai must be some genius to lead us out of the mess you created in such a short time. Thanks to him, we can now into this mystery, maybe even solve it AND return to the training centre before sunset." Tyson stuck out his tongue in reply. No one paid any attention to him. Greatly offended, he puffed his face and sulked in a very...Tyson-ish manner.

Kai quietly took in the house they were standing before.

"It's... big. " Rei finally managed.

Kai snorted amusedly. That was a ridiculous understatement. The house - no, the mansion was HUGE. What was more fascinating was that it looked extremely well-kept and maintained. Even the lawn surrounding it was well-trimmed. Compared to this, Kai mused, the Hiwatari mansion looked like some regular-sized house.

Max looked as if he was having trouble with his eyes. He kept on rubbing them and muttered, "N-no way, no freaking way. "

"What's the matter, Max? " Rei asked the blonde. "This mansion's BIG. But it's not there in the records!"

"What do you mean? "Kai noticed Max's fingers twitch nervously.

" Well, when the training centre was being set up, Mr. D, Kenny and I were checking out the houses in close vicinity of this forest. All the houses, mind you. Even the ones with people living in them, and the ones under construction. And, " He nodded towards the the mansion, "there was no record whatsoever of a house INSIDE the forest, let alone of such enormous proportions. "

Rei tried to reason, "Maybe it was built afterwards... "

"Do you really believe that? " Kai cut him short. Max added,

"Even if it was, I am talking about last week. All of our practice stuff reached the centre only today. Even a regular-sized house will take months to get built. Now if you're telling me that this mansion was still made in only one week... "

"Ok, point taken. " Rei looked embarrassed. Tyson, who had been panting on the ground till then, sprang up.

"Hey, making a big house inside a protected forest filled can't be legal, right? Even the training centre is at the edge of the forest, not inside it. " He challenged the team's brooding leader to answer.

"Hn." What Tyson had said was perfectly true. Kai had no choice but to agree with him. Even Mr. D had to get a special permit to set up a training centre so close to a forest. A massive house literally inside that forest... something was really off about this whole thing.

Tyson puffed with arrogance at being able to make Kai agree to something he had said. Kai wished that he hadn't.

"Then maybe, just maybe... this is a secret hideout for all of the goons. Maybe this is some crime mafia's HQ. Maybe... hey! " He fumbled around in his pockets, "Let's defeat them guys! We are the Beyblade World Champions, the Bladebreakers after all! " Tyson held out Dragoon and waved it around like a weapon.

Kai could almost swear that he saw the Dragoon drawn on the white beyblade sweatdrop.

"What's up with him? " Kai wondered aloud as Rei tried to stop Tyson from marching into the place. Sure, the navy-haired boy was over-energetic and a tad eccentric at times, but this was just too much.

"It's... complicated. Maybe. " Max mumbled.

Tyson wailed aloud, "I just wanted to sleep for ten more minutes - just ten. But Max just had to yell into my ear and pour ice-cold water on my head! "

Max was the one with the least aggression amongst the Bladebreakers. He... did that?

"Uh Max, you yelled? "

"And poured water on Tyson's head." Kai added.

"Well, Mr. D wanted all of us to reach the training centre on time, and Tyson... " Max mumbled, "wasn't waking up, so I had to take drastic measures."

"You didn't even let me eat breakfast! " Tyson wailed, "You do know that a good wholesome breakfast is really necessary for a growing boy like me, right? "

" Is a 16 year old, and still calls himself a growing boy." Kai remarked, "wherein the only thing that's been growing is his tummy."

"What do you mean, Kai? " Tyson stomped his foot, " I have had a growth spurt lately."

Kai noted his barely changed height,"An invisible growth spurt, you mean? "

"KAI! " Rei restrained the navy-haired boy as he tried to launch himself at his jeering team mate. "That's enough, you two." Rei scolded. Kai shrugged indifferently.

"If you guys can remember, we're on a treasure hunt here." At Rei's sentence, a complete change came over Tyson. He struggled out of Rei's hold, stuck out his tongue once at Kai, and started walking towards the mysterious house.

"Tyson! Where are you going? "

"Those goons might escape before we reach there! Hurry guys! "

Kai watched Rei run after the overzealous blader.

"Max, just how cold water did you pour on his head? "

"Well, I took the bottle out of the freezer and left it for about two minutes before pouring it on his head. "

"So, you literally did pour ice-cold water on his head."

"Uh... "

Poor Tyson. No wonder he was acting in such a weird manner.

* * *

The mansion was... luxurious. It had an age to it which somehow made it look even more elegant. As they entered through the main door, the drawing room (or rather, the front parlour) came in view. The Bladebreakers stared in awe.

The entire room was carpeted, with Persian rugs from the look of it. Expensive-looking oil paintings hung on the walls. There was a massive old-fashioned chandelier in the centre of the room.

"Whoever owns this place is literally wallowing in money. " Rei stated in a matter-of-fact way. Kai, on the other hand, crinkled his nose with distaste at the room's decor.

"It's more like that guy was clueless about where to waste money, and ended up wasting it in the worst way possible. "

A house inside a forest should be, at the most, a cabin. This mansion felt... wrong. There was something definitely unsettling about it. As if it didn't belong. As if it was a part of another world, stitched to this world by mistake.

Kai shook himself out of his musings and glanced about. His team mates were already all over the place, poking everything and making silly comments. Something at the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning in that direction, he perceived a huge bookcase in front of the fourth wall. Strangely, such a big thing ought to have caught his eye on immediately entering the room. Even his other team mates seemed blissfully unaware of it as they explored every inch of the room.

Kai moved forward and touched the bookcase. The wood it was made of felt warm, and somewhat... alive. He heard someone gasp behind him.

"Rei? "

The neko-jin checked out the bookcase. "It's so beautiful... I cannot believe that I missed such a gigantic thing here. " So he wasn't the only one, Kai realized. Max bounded in, his usual bubbly self restored. "Hey guys, the couches are insane! You can jump so high on them that your head touches the ceiling everytime... WHAT THE HECK IS THIS? " he stared at the bookcase, "This bookcase is unreal! Strange I never noticed it before..." This makes three of them, Kai mused. Just then, Tyson stormed in, "Hey guys, do you have any idea where the kitchen is? I can't find it even after looking around for so long... What is this? "

"A bookcase. "

"I know what it is, Sherlock! But I am positive that this thing was not here a minute ago. I would have had noticed. "

"Do you notice anything other than food? "

"Haha. Very funny. "

"Wasn't joking. "

"Cut it out, you two. " Rei shook his head. "HE started it! " Tyson accused the slate-haired blader, who shrugged nonchalantly. Tyson's face puffed up. But before they could get started for Round Two, Rei diverted their attention by thinking aloud, " It's strange that a bookcase entirely covering a whole wall never even caught our eye until Kai happened to approach it, don't you think? "

"Ya, why didn't I see it first? This is so unfair... " Tyson pouted. Rei coughed, "Not my point exactly, but... you get the drift. " All three bladers looked expectantly at their team captain. "What? "Kai raised his hands in protest, "I discovered it by accident, you know. Don't look at me. " Collective sighs were heard as every face fell. What - were they expecting him to explain this bizarre situation? Was he some kind of Mr. Know-It-All? Kai snorted at the idea. Max tilted his head, "But you're the one who has all the explanations for strange happenings- "

"Seriously? " Kai fought back a smile. Unfortunately, Rei noticed his face twitch, mistook it for a frown and immediately turned back to the real topic.

"So, what do you guys think of this? " He nodded towards the bookcase. Kai quietly studied it, noting every small detail. "It looks as if it was carved out of a single tree." A GIANT single tree. He stroked the wood, "Seems to be oak."

"But I thought that it's wood! " Tyson objected, "It's hard... and brown -"

"You have the right to remain silent, and you must make full use of it." Max stated cheerfully.

"But -"

"Oak is a type of tree, Tyson - and trees give timber."

"It's wood only." Kai added amusedly when Tyson looked at him in a confused manner.

"W-what? I didn't know that, okay?" The navy-haired haired teen looked embarrassed. Kai turned back to the bookshelf, "It looks kinda old."

"Even the books smell ancient!" Max exclaimed. Kai glared at him in disapproval. "There's a difference between old and ancient, Max."

"Sorry." Max mumbled. Kai knit his eyebrows in confusion at his own behavior. He usually didn't snap at someone else for using the wrong adjective, but... where books are concerned (especially old ones), he became a tad touchy.

"Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen... "

Kai snapped to attention on hearing the title of the book Rei had in his hand. A classic? He practically snatched the book out of Rei's hands and looked it over.

"This looks like the first edition..." He murmured in awe, his fingers taking in the feel of the crinkled yellow paper.

"The first edition was published in January 1813." He pointed towards the back of the book, which had the same written in faded letters.

"So... that's old? "

"And valuable. Maybe even priceless."

"Wow."

"This is the first volume... there are two more." He rummaged in the bookcase and pulled out two more similar-looking volumes. "What the... this guy actually has them all! " He was tempted to take them back with him. But well, they didn't belong to him, did they? He sighed longingly as he put them back in their respective places. There were tons of rare books there; the shelves were each filled with real classics. He contented himself in merely skimming through the books that happened to catch his eye. Meanwhile, Tyson complained continuously about the spider webs that clung to his hands after he had foolishly tried to stick his hand behind the bookcase. He was saying something about a secret passage...

"Will you guys keep quiet? " Kai snapped at his team mates, ' _The Scarlet Pimpernel_ ' lying open on the table before him.

Tyson shot back, "While you are busy chewing on those old books, we are discussing something important here."

"Like? "

"Whether there is any secret passage behind this bookcase or not, like the ones they show in the movies, to get to the treasure."

"Good luck with that." He, for one, had found treasure and was content with it.

Little did he know that this was just the beginning of the 'adventure' they had been promised by the map. And maps never lie (unless you are counting the GPS).

The wheels of Fate were set in motion the moment Kai's eyes spied on a little book, tucked inconspicuously between two fat volumes of 'The Tale of Two Cities' and 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. Going over to the bookcase, he pulled out the book. It was different from the other books there in the sense that the style of writing was very different. It seemed to be handwritten, he realized - a diary or a memoir of someone. The pages looked ready to fall apart in any second.

That should have had served as a warning for the Dranzer-wielder, to leave the book alone, forget the strange house and just go back to their normal lives. But of course, he had to open it.

"Who leaves the window open in the winter, huh? " Tyson shouted in irritation as a cold wind blew off his signature cap.

"Uh, Tyson... "

"None of the windows are open. It's just your own stupid idea. "

"I am NOT going crazy. " Tyson pointed around, "Whatdyya say about all of THIS? " The entire room was in a state of turmoil. Papers were flying around, all the vases and glass things were falling and breaking, and even the paintings were swaying violently.

Max gulped, "This isn't normal, is it? "

"I'm not a expert...but no, not at all." Rei turned in Kai's direction, "What do you think? " The blader in question didn't answer.

"Kai? "

"Don't you think it's strange that though everything in this room is flying around, this pages of this aren't even moving? " He held up the book in his hand.

Before anyone could react, Tyson leapt up. "I knew this! You, " He pointed towards Kai, "are doing this with Dranzer's help! "

"Air is your forte; mine is fire."

"Oh... right." Tyson looked down in dejection, then screamed, making the others jump. "What now? " Kai looked angry.

"HELP! THE FLOOR IS EATING MY LEGS! " Everyone looked down to see their legs slowly sinking into the marble floor. Kai quietly cursed as he tried to move, but in vain. Tyson looked petrified with fear.

"It's like quicksand." Rei commented in a tensed voice. Max jiggled about for a while and almost sank down till his knees. "Don't move, you fool! " Kai scolded the blonde, "The more you move, the more you sink."

Max mumbled out an apology and patted around for his mobile. "Shit...There's no network here."

"Of course there isn't - we're inside a dense forest, remember? " Max flushed at the reference Rei made to the lame excuse he had given in reply to Kai's question, just a few hours back. Heck, they had entered into the forest this morning , it seemed so long ago...

"Maybe we should try calling out for help. " Max suggested. The room, however, seemed to disagree. It shuddered as a howling wind blew through it. "Guys..." Rei's words were drowned in the ear piercing sounds that followed. "AAAHHH! " Everyone covered their ears as some of them (Max and Tyson, to be more precise) screamed to their heart's content.

Then the floor caved in.

The development was sudden, as a swirling vortex formed right beside where Max was standing. The other Bladebreakers tried to reach their frightened friend, but their feet just wouldn't move. They watched in dismay as Max disappeared into the increasingly big vortex.

"MAXIE! " Tyson cried out but received no reply. Rei looked aghast. As for Kai, his mind tried to come up with a convincible explanation about everything that was happening. He watched on in disbelief as Tyson disappeared as well, Rei calling out to him.

"Why is this... do you think this is happening because of the map? " Kai looked up in Rei's direction. His answer was soft.

"I don't know. "

The vortex opened up and pulled Rei inside it as well. Kai tried to help his friend, but... his body wouldn't move. He stared at the place where Rei had disappeared, and was aware that the vortex was moving even closer to him.

His thumb brushed against the gold initials 'R. H.' written on the book's spine.

"I'm pretty sure this happened because I opened this book... "

His voice was scattered to the howling wind as he dropped into a seemingly bottomless void.


	3. Time Travel... Just Lost Its Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After waking up in an alley and coming to terms with this bizarre situation, the Bladebreakers have finally figured out which way to go. But if it was only so simple... not to mention that that a certain navy-head and grey-head are on same side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry that it's been so long! I had a writer's block, then things came up and work started piling... anyway, enjoy!

"How long have we been walking?" Tyson slumped forward, "It feels like a lifetime..."

Kai wrinkled his nose in disgust, "It's not even been a full minute, Tyson."

"Oh yeah?" Tyson looked at their team leader with a challenging smirk, "You got a watch?"

"No."

"Then?"

"Common knowledge - you start yapping after walking for precisely thirty seconds."

"You-"

"Hey guys! I can see a light at the end of this tunnel!" Max's cheerful voice cut in. 

"For the last time, Max - It's an alley, not a tunnel." Tyson snapped. _Boy isn't he angry... guess the truth hurts._ Rei's eyes widened. _Wait, he knows the difference between an alley and a tunnel? Tyson sure is smarter than he's given credit for._

"Um..." Max scratched his cheek in thought, "What's the difference?"

"Seriously? Are you for real?" Kai stared at Max while Tyson shook his head. _And at times when they agree with each other even without realizing it... even though they were fighting just a moment ago..._ Rei suppressed his desire to laugh at his team mates' antics. He cleared his throat and pointed, "Guys, stop fighting and calm down. We are finally in the open." 

They stepped out of the dark alley, and immediately -

Bright sunlight hit their senses.

"Gah! I'm blind! I'm blind! I can't see a thing!" The navy-head flailed about, "I'm blin-"

"Stop making a commotion, Tyson." The grey-head retorted as he slowly lowered the hand he had put up beforehand to shield his eyes from the sun's bright rays.

Tyson squinted at him, "What it to you, Sourpuss?" and then stuck out his tongue. Kai's eyebrow twitched at the 'Sourpuss' part, but he didn't respond. He was too dumbstruck by everything he could see around him.

Rai knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, "Where in the world are we?" 

Muddy, crumbling roads. The sheer number of stray animals - cats, to be precise. Goods kept for sale on wooden stalls and carts. 

There was too much to take in.

"The correct question will be," Kai mumbled as he began to walk forward while looking around, "When... are we?"

"What?!" Rei leapt over a cabbage lying on the street and caught up with his friend, "You don't mean-"

"This place looks like a scene taken from a medieval Europe-themed movie."

"B-but that's n-not..." Rei trailed off as he stared at a burly man wearing weird baggy clothes who was shouting something in a strange language in an attempt to sell his wares - which happened to be some moldy looking carrots and potatoes. The man caught them staring and yelled something. Rei's eyes widened. Why was a random man in medieval Europe yelling at them in Japanese?

Kai glared at him. The man quickly beat a retreat. Rei turned towards Kai to see the stoic blader mumbling something under his breath.

No one even questioned why they were just accepting this bizarre situation as it is and not even considering it to be some kind of a hoax. 

"Uh, Kai..." He tapped the other's shoulder, "Did they used to speak Japanese in medieval Europe?"

"Huh?" Kai turned to meet his friend's gaze.

"Why was that man... speaking in Japanese?"

The grey-head snorted at his friend's simplicity, "Tell me, is there any plausible reason why we're here, out of all things?"

"I..." Rei mentally slapped himself,"...I get your point..." 

"Hn. Though," Kai looked back once to see the younger bladers running to catch up to them, then faced forward, "The accent's rather difficult to understand - almost as if they're speaking Japanese in an English accent..."

Of course, medieval English will be spoken in medieval Europe. What else was he expecting? Maybe they were hearing English only, just that it was getting translated somehow. Then their speech should be turned into English as well...

This doesn't make the least bit of sense whatsoever.

**[A/N: Let's ignore the fact that in the series everyone seems to know Japanese no matter which part of the world they're from.]**

"You know English?" Rei fell into step beside him.

"Yeah. That old geezer made me learn that, among other things."

"Oh." As for him, he had never learnt any foreign language except Japanese.

Kai noticed his hesitation, "Rei?"

"..."

"What's the matter?"

"I... don't know English..." Rei hesitated before continuing, " I only know greetings and some keywords."

"Well," Kai shrugged it off, "It's not as if you need it right now."

"That's true..."

"Eeekkkkk! Get OFF ME!" Both the bladers started at the sudden yell and turned back, to behold a fascinating scene unfold before them. Rei struggled to hide his grin while Kai visibly sweatdropped.

One of the cats roaming on the streets seemed to have taken a liking to Max, and was currently clinging to his leg. The blond blader looked half-scared to death as he jerked his leg on all sides, trying to lose the kitten. "T-Tyson," He looked at his navy-haired friend who was barely holding it together, "P-please g-get this o-off me!"

"None can do Max."

"Wha- ?! Hey, c'mon, h-help m-me!"

"Meow~"

"Gah! Ew!" Max hopped around on one leg, "Someone PLEASE HELP MEEEEEE!!!"

Tyson surpassed his limit and started laughing uncontrollably, while Rei turned his head around and probably followed him. _Why would someone be so afraid of one little kitty?_ Kai rolled his eyes in amusement. His eyes caught on another cat, who was lurking in the shadows with its fur bristling and tail standing up. _Uh-oh, looks like the Mama cat's getting ready to attack..._

The dranzer-wielder walked briskly over to his blond team mate's side and plucked the kitten off his wildly flailing leg. Refusing to look at the others' expressions, he quietly carried it to one side and then let it down.

" **Kaaaiii** ," Tyson smirked evilly, "Don't tell me - you have a soft spot for _cats_?!"

"The kitten's parent," Kai ignored the question, "Was just there, getting ready to attack Max." He pointed towards the same who snarled at them before licking the kitten once and carrying it away.

"Okay..." Tyson didn't look too convinced but Kai couldn't care less. Rei smiled behind his hand - Kai did love cats, all animals really. He had many times caught him bringing food to stray animals or helping the injured ones. Kai had sworn him to secrecy on this topic, but still... 

He looked at his stoic team mate, who was currently letting Max have it. He did care, although he didn't show it much. 

_Wet blanket._

They dodged several carts and crowded places and grumpy people who stared at them strangely, they finally made it to a relatively quieter area.

The houses' design and architecture... the banners they saw before and the symbols made on them... the people's clothing... it all boiled down to one particular information in a certain history nerd's head.

"This seems to be 13th- no, late 12th Century England." Kai announced aloud out of the blue.

"SAY WHAT NOW?!" The other three bladers spoke up in unison, staring at their team leader.

The grey-head sighed. Trying to explain how he got that idea would take ages with these guys - not to mention that he wasn't feeling up to it. Instead of answering, he chose a random direction and started walking towards it.

"Oh, I'm more than happy to go with that!" Max spoke up in a cheerful voice as he ran up to meet Kai. He looked excited.

"Stop jumping Max... the road is very uneven. You might trip!"

"Oh, okay!"

Kai quickened his pace.

"Hey, wait up!" Tyson jogged up to him, "What's the hurry all about?"

_Someone has been constantly following us for a while now. Since we came out of the alley._ He could feel it. 

"We're attracting unwanted attention." Kai caught a movement at the corner of his eye. He stopped and ran his eyes around, but spotted no one hiding in the shadows. _This is getting creepy now..._

"And that's a bad thing?" Tyson smiled giddily as he waved to an non-existent audience, "Come on, they must know that we're the Bladebreakers!"

_Ugh._ Kai grimaced. _I seriously don't want to be caught dead or alive with this clown._

"So Kai, why do they wear bags in late 12th Century England?"

"Those are clothes, Tyson. It's just a style of the era."

"WOW!" Max gushed, "So, these are the medieval fashion trends???"

Kai ignored this question.

"Why are there no cars in late 12th Century England?"

"Because it **is** late 12th Century England, you idiot!?"

"What difference does it make?"

"..." He was feeling like a fricking tourist guide now. _For all that I know, Tyson might think that cars have existed from even before the Ice Age..._

Max stared at his friend, "Come on, Tyson - don't you pay attention in your science and history classes?"

"Well, I'm a growing boy," Tyson tried to defend himself, "So I-"

"Sleep during classes. Figures."

"Wow, you actually got it right!" Kai hmphed at Tyson's expression. The navy-head continued, "I gotta ask. Where can we find sushi in late 12th Century England?"

A tick-mark showed up on Kai's forehead, "Will you stop repeating 'late 12th Century England' again and again? And what kind of a stupid question is that?"

Tyson pouted, "It is pretty legit, you know."

"NO!" And he finally lost it.

_Sushi in medieval England - are you kidding me?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you in the next chapter!


End file.
